Chapter Text
It was just another day. Just another day of volleyball, of a sport where passion was gasoline and he simply had no fuel. A faint trickle of joy (...or occasionally more) leaked out of his heart for his video games, but everything else in the world was static noise in the background. People were just an energy drain. They set him on edge like no boss battle could. He didn’t care what they thought of him, but he couldn’t stop analyzing every little move they made, trying to measure how they felt about him no matter how many times he told himself not to pay attention. After so many years, he gave up trying to stop the habit and instead focused on managing how much energy it would take and planning around the drain. When it came to volleyball, certain teammates took less energy than others, and for a few he was able to tune them out entirely, even while they were speaking. None of them captured his attention, and even though it was sometimes uncomfortable to be mostly alone, he had no desire to make friends. He had Kuroo, and he didn’t really need- or want- anyone else.
But that boy was different. That boy he met on the street... he was like so many other boys, but Kenma was drawn to him unlike anyone else. Where Kenma was a match, that boy was a bonfire doused with lighter fluid. Something pulled at his heart when he spoke. His stomach rolled when he laughed. He couldn’t think when he smiled. It was like all the air got sucked out of him, like they were in a vacuum and he was the only star in space. It was a bit dramatic for Kenma. But Hinata Shouyou was probably worthy of the full three-act play. (They were usually three acts, right?)
It was easy to think about these things sitting alone in his room, half engrossed in a game while his mind wandered endlessly to a redheaded boy that had a laugh like a meteor shower. The trouble was how often he found his mind coming back to him. Aside from Kuroo, he had never made friends. It was only natural that he was confused by the process, it was still completely new to him. He was a friend, and it just kept taking him by surprise, he figured.
It was early afternoon when the first text made his phone sing an awkwardly chipper alert tone. Kenma was on his way to practice with Kuroo and typed his typical short responses quickly. As ever, Shouyou took much longer to respond. He was still getting used to the keyboard, but was always sure to include at least five emojis and seven exclamation points in every lengthy message he sent. Kenma found his relentless enthusiasm endearing, somehow.
“Is that your boyfriend, or your mom?” Kenma looked up in confusion.
“What?” Kuroo asked, “Those are the only two people you ever text besides me. Which one is it?” Kuroo snorted when Kenma looked down at his feet in embarrassment.
“Relax,” he said, not waiting for a complaint from Kenma, “I know he’s not really your boyfriend.” Kenma knew perfectly well that he was joking. He told him so, and Kuroo just shrugged dramatically. But that didn’t stop him from feeling like he was suddenly inside an oven.
“He must be pretty bad with a phone, Shrimpy.” They had reached the gym, and Kuroo must have noticed Kenma staring intently into his phone, waiting for an answer. That, or he stopped hearing his message tone every thirty seconds.
“He’s taking forever to reply,” Kenma sounded whinier than he meant.
“Maybe practice started?”
“Maybe.” Kenma sighed and tucked his phone into his jacket as they entered the locker room to change. It was only a ten minute warm-up run and Kenma was out of breath and exhausted, just like at every practice. As he expected, there was a text from Shouyou when he checked his phone during the pause between exercises.
< Sorry, practice started!!!! ^ o ^;; Kageyama
keeps yelling at me about always having my
phone with me and constantly using it :<
he’s such a butt sometimes!!!!
Kenma ignored a growing conversation from his teammates to answer.
My practice started too. I’ll text you at 7.
He deleted his message, thought, then typed it again.
My practice started too. I’ll text you at 7 v . v ✌️
Shouyou responded immediately.
< Okay!!!!!!!!! ^ O ^ :D o 3 o
Kenma tucked his phone into his jacket and set it back on top of his bag. He jogged over to Kuroo’s side. Kuroo was looking at him funny. So were the rest of the teammates clustered around him. He looked from the ground to Kuroo and back again, hoping for an answer, but not sure if he wanted one.
“What’s going on?” Yamamoto spoke instead. Kenma looked at him, not understanding the question.
“You smiled,” he explained.
“Huh?”
“You smiled when you were on your phone. I didn’t know you could smile.” Kenma’s stomach collapsed in on itself and then imploded. Well... he thought his heart skipped a beat. That’s physically possible, at least.
“Oh,” he answered blankly. Only the coach’s whistle saved Kenma from uncertain territory that had come so close. He was grateful that Nekomata’s speech didn’t happen to involve him at the moment, letting him wonder what exactly had happened. Did he really smile? He didn’t feel it. Did he always smile, or was this an accident? Maybe that’s why Kuroo was so entertained when he texted Shouyou.
“Hey, pay attention!” Yamamoto poked a finger into Kenma’s side. He frowned at the second-year.
“Come on, we’re getting started!”
Practice moved along as it always did, with Kenma trying not to catch any more attention than necessary and Yamamoto trying to catch all of the attention he possibly could at any given moment. As always, Nekomata seemed to see some secret that Kenma was trying to hide, whether or not he truly had one, and was tiringly smug about it. Kuroo was excessively dramatic in his speech at the end of practice, and they walked to the train station and then home together. It was a little after 6:30 when he got back, and by the time he had finished eating dinner with his family it was already after 7. He flopped onto his bed, trying to think of what to say.
> How was practice?
Shouyou didn’t answer right away. Then he didn’t answer for five minutes. Then ten. He assumed Shouyou wouldn’t care about the exact time, but he wasn’t totally sure. Maybe he was annoyed by having to wait? It was thirty minutes now. He thought about sending a second text, but couldn’t bring himself to ask for any more of Shouyou’s attention. Besides, if he was annoyed, a second text would just make it worse. He tucked his hair behind his ears and pulled out his DS, hoping to distract himself with his newest game. He had only finished the character creation yesterday. That always took the longest. It took him at least 40 minutes to decide upon naming the character “Youkou”, though it seemed too unlike the names he usually chose. It was too… vibrant? Something about the name struck him as odd, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He let it go and let himself fall into the plot.
It was almost an hour after the first text that he got an answer. He patted around on his desk blindly for his phone, only pausing his game once he unlocked it in order to read the response.
< Kenma, I’m sooorrrryyy!!!!! Daichi made a
bunch of us come over to do homework
because we’re “falling behind” > o < he
took my phone toooooo!!!!!!!!! he wouldn’t
give it back until we were done :T
This time, Kenma was fully aware of the smile threatening to spread across his face.
> Is a “bunch” of you just you and Kageyama?
< >:O no!!!!!!!
< :( okay maybe it was maybe it wasn’t……...
> sure.
< it’s not that big of a problem, just because
I missed a few assignments doesn’t mean I’m
failing out of school ; n ;
> How many is a “few” exactly?
< Keennnmaaaaa!!!! ; A ; you’re starting to sound
like Tsuki!!!!! he kept making fun of the phone
charm I got, it looks kind of like yours, too!!!
It’s a crow, like our mascot!! :D
> Are you even allowed to play volleyball, still?
< It wasn’t that many assignments, okay!!!!!! :c
> Okay.
< It wasn’t!!!!
> Alright, alright. How was practice, aside from that?
< It was really great!!! :O Ukai-sensei showed me
how to do a quick from Sugawara’s tosses even
when he doesn’t hit it like Kageyama does, which
is like, super ultra fast!!!! you saw it at our last
practice, right????? He does his toss, and when I
hit it it’s like nyooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!
only way shorter actually because it’s soooooo
fast!!!! :O :O :O
Kenma covered a smile he couldn’t stop with his hand. Even though he was alone, he was still so aware of himself. His room was abnormally warm, he thought. It was summer, after all, so it made sense for it to be hot out. As the conversation continued, there began to be pauses in Shouyou’s responses, some a few minutes, others much longer. At one point, Shouyou asked if he was getting tired. Kenma told him he wasn’t, and Shouyou’s response was only a string of bizarre emojis, probably some way of expressing surprise. Kenma didn’t mind. He even replied with a few cat emojis himself. Shouyou seemed to like that a lot, for some reason. The delays grew longer, but Kenma didn’t reach for other games. He simply waited for Shouyou’s next text, however short, and however long the conversation lagged on.
Shouyou finally stopped responding all together. Kenma frowned at his phone, then turned to look at his clock. It was much later than he realized. He always stayed up late, but Shouyou probably wasn’t so used to it. He likely needed a lot of sleep to fuel his constant energy. Kenma rubbed his eyes and sent one last text.
> Goodnight, Shouyou.
He checked the time again. 1:26. It wasn’t as late as he normally stayed up, but Kenma locked his phone and put it on his desk, anyway. He laid back in bed, pulling his blankets around him and curling up. Before he could stop himself, he started wondering about what Shouyou looked like when he slept. He was probably still holding his phone and fell asleep with it in hand. There was something oddly pleasant in that image of him, probably on his stomach with the sheets on top of his head. That seemed like him. Kenma sighed. His thoughts were wandering again, endlessly coming back to Shouyou.
Shouyou. He liked the way his name sounded, the way it felt in his mouth as it left his lips. He frowned. What an odd thought. He sighed again. An odd thought among so many others like it. He couldn’t help the worry that grew as more came to him. Like how warm he felt when Kuroo asked about Shouyou, or the way his heart sped up when his new friend took too long to respond. He didn’t stop feeling overheated when he finally answered, though. He never felt so nervous when Kuroo was slow, but then again, Kuroo was always slow because of how old his phone was. He would always rest his chin on Kenma’s head and push his phone in his friend’s face to ask for help. That was normal to him; it felt natural, even, that level of contact, but when Shouyou held his arm out of excitement at their last practice match (he had a new phone! Kenma, look!) Kenma’s heart was practically beating out of his chest. He had to blame his flushed face on being startled, and it didn’t help that Shouyou started apologizing profusely.
The outlook certainly wasn’t good. Nor was the look of confusion Kuroo gave him that same practice- Shouyou had brushed Kenma’s hair behind his ears for him, because he couldn’t possibly see with his hair in his face like that. He made a fuss when Kuroo sometimes tried the same thing. He had just felt frozen in place when Shouyou had done it, that’s all it was. Kenma pulled his hair out from behind his ears, flustered in the isolation of his room.
Oh no.